January 2024

[donsutherland1]

1 hour ago, EastonSN+ said:

Thanks Don, it's shocking how important the PNA is for our area, even with substantial blocking in place.

We had the PNA dominated pattern from 2000 through 2018 which must have added in the plethora of 6+events.

For January through mid-February, the PNA is often a critical factor.

[SACRUS]

 

27 for a low - now to 30.  Partly cloudy - another day to dry out before another +1 inches of rain and (liquid) falls. Rain winds Friday overnight into Sat, rain ends in the afternoon, winds remain strong through sunday.   Chill down 1/15 with snow potential 1/16-1/17.   Overall colder with peak of the Arctic cold 1/20 - 1/23 single digits inland/teens metro/city- storm or clipper in there during he period.  Moderation towards the end of the month.

 

 

[SACRUS]

 

Records:

Highs:

EWR: 69 (2020)
NYC: 68 (2020)
LGA: 68 (2017)


Lows:

EWR: -1 (1981)
NYC: 2 (1981)
LGA: 1 (1981)

Historical:

 

1886: With a reading of 26 degrees below zero, Bowling Green, Kentucky, recorded its coldest temperature on record.

1888 - A sharp cold front swept southward from the Dakotas to Texas in just 24 hours spawning a severe blizzard over the Great Plains. More than 200 pioneers perished in the storm. Subzero temperatures and mountainous snow drifts killed tens of thousands of cattle. (David Ludlum)

 

1888: Children’s or Schoolhouse Blizzard occurred on this day. The blizzard killed 235 people, many of whom were children on their way home from school, across the Northern Plains. 

 

1890: A tornado touched down at St. Louis, Missouri, and crossed the Mississippi River, ending just south of Venice. The worst damage from this tornado occurred in St. Louis. Further east and northeast, one tornado in McLean County passed through downtown Cooksville, destroying at least a dozen buildings, while a tornado in Richland County destroyed four homes northeast of Olney. In all, over 100 homes and other buildings were unroofed or damaged. The storm caused four deaths and 15 injuries.

1912 - The morning low of 47 degrees below zero at Washta IA established a state record. (The Weather Channel)

1985 - A record snowstorm struck portions of western and south central Texas. The palm trees of San Antonio were blanketed with up to thirteen and a half inches of snow, more snow than was ever previously received in an entire winter season. (Weather Channel) (Storm Data)

1987 - Twenty-seven cities in the Upper Midwest reported new record high temperatures for the date. Afternoon highs of 72 degrees at Valentine NE and 76 degrees at Rapid City SD set records for the month of January. (National Weather Summary)

1988 - Parts of North Dakota finally got their first snow of the winter season, and it came with a fury as a blizzard raged across the north central U.S. Snowfall totals ranged up to 14 inches at Fargo ND, winds gusted to 65 mph at Windom MN, and wind chill readings in North Dakota reached 60 degrees below zero. (National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)

1989 - A dozen cities in the southeastern U.S. reported record high temperatures for the date as readings warmed into the 70s and 80s. Fort Myers FL reported a record high of 86 degrees. (National Weather Summary)

1990 - Gale force winds produce squalls with heavy snow in the Great Lakes Region. Totals in northwest Pennsylvania ranged up to eleven inches at Conneautville and Meadville. Barnes Corners, in western New York State, was buried under 27 inches of snow in two days. (National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)

[MANDA]

Temperatures near -50F across parts of Alberta this morning.  That is First Class, Grade A cold.  Something not seen every year that's for sure and certainly not in the recent past.

[bluewave]

Very Niña-like Arctic outbreak pattern for North America this month. Seattle NWS mentioning the low max could be coldest there since the 1998-1999 strong La Niña.

 

 

 

[LoboLeader1]

Plenty of snow out west.

[Snowstorms]

2 hours ago, MANDA said:

Temperatures near -50F across parts of Alberta this morning.  That is First Class, Grade A cold.  Something not seen every year that's for sure and certainly not in the recent past.

https://weather.gc.ca/city/pages/ab-71_metric_e.html 

It's currently feeling like -72F in Edmonton. -54F tonight and -58F tomorrow night in Edmonton without windchills. This is ridiculous cold. 

 

[Volcanic Winter]

24 minutes ago, Snowstorms said:

https://weather.gc.ca/city/pages/ab-71_metric_e.html 

It's currently feeling like -72F in Edmonton. -54F tonight and -58F tomorrow night in Edmonton without windchills. This is ridiculous cold. 

 

I do winter hiking and you would legitimately need expedition down parkas to be out in that, like Everest style down suits. I have a very heavy 240g fill weight down jacket suitable for  below zero temps but even layered with that it would be too cold, and this is a substantially warmer parka than what most people have. Like you can’t even wear it around freezing you’ll sweat your ass off.  I’m sure living in Canada most are well prepared I’m just saying that is most certainly “nuts” cold. 

[mcwx]

3 minutes ago, Volcanic Winter said:

I do winter hiking and you would legitimately need expedition down parkas to be out in that, like Everest style down suits. I have a very heavy 240g fill weight down jacket suitable for  below zero temps but even layered with that it would be too cold, and this is a substantially warmer parka than what most people have. Like you can’t even wear it around freezing you’ll sweat your ass off.  I’m sure living in Canada most are well prepared I’m just saying that is most certainly “nuts” cold. 

get a pair of bunny boots for extreme cold too

 

[Snowstorms]

11 minutes ago, Volcanic Winter said:

I do winter hiking and you would legitimately need expedition down parkas to be out in that, like Everest style down suits. I have a very heavy 240g fill weight down jacket suitable for  below zero temps but even layered with that it would be too cold, and this is a substantially warmer parka than what most people have. Like you can’t even wear it around freezing you’ll sweat your ass off.  I’m sure living in Canada most are well prepared I’m just saying that is most certainly “nuts” cold. 

A lot of folks, especially in western Canada, have moose knuckles or canada goose jackets. Though I don't know how effective they are at -50F lol. But I don't think even your parka would be enough, you'd need to wear a thick sweater underneath along with scarfs, gloves, hat, etc. 

I have a cousin living in Calgary right now, I could ask him what they're doing. But I believe they urge people to stay indoors and park your cars inside a garage or risk it not starting up. I think they might even plug their cars. This type of cold outbreak is rare, even by their standards. On average most cold outbreaks are between -25 to -35F in that area. 

[MANDA]

44 minutes ago, Snowstorms said:

https://weather.gc.ca/city/pages/ab-71_metric_e.html 

It's currently feeling like -72F in Edmonton. -54F tonight and -58F tomorrow night in Edmonton without windchills. This is ridiculous cold. 

 

Remarkable really and well modeled almost a week out.

[Nibor]

17 minutes ago, Volcanic Winter said:

I do winter hiking and you would legitimately need expedition down parkas to be out in that, like Everest style down suits. I have a very heavy 240g fill weight down jacket suitable for  below zero temps but even layered with that it would be too cold, and this is a substantially warmer parka than what most people have. Like you can’t even wear it around freezing you’ll sweat your ass off.  I’m sure living in Canada most are well prepared I’m just saying that is most certainly “nuts” cold. 

I don't think there's a manufacturer that makes a sleeping bag that goes that low. I think Western Mountaineerings lowest rated bag is -40.

[Volcanic Winter]

7 minutes ago, Snowstorms said:

A lot of folks, especially in western Canada, have moose knuckles or canada goose jackets. Though I don't know how effective they are at -50F lol. But I don't think even your parka would be enough, you'd need to wear a thick sweater underneath along with scarfs, gloves, hat, etc. 

I have a cousin living in Calgary right now, I could ask him what they're doing. But I believe they urge people to stay indoors and park your cars inside a garage or risk it not starting up. I think they might even plug their cars. This type of cold outbreak is rare, even by their standards. On average most cold outbreaks are between -25 to -35F in that area. 

Not to derail but Canada Goose is an overpriced fashion brand. They’re very warm but also obscenely expensive. Can get a better made down jacket that’s as warm or warmer from Feathered Friends for a fraction. I’d take Arcteryx over CG too, or Patagonia. Expensive still, but more technically competent than CG’s offerings. Just IMHO. We went into a CG boutique in Reykjavik this November and the price for their parkas were absolutely laughable, was like $2500 for the women’s warmer variant. 

[donsutherland1]

47 minutes ago, Snowstorms said:

https://weather.gc.ca/city/pages/ab-71_metric_e.html 

It's currently feeling like -72F in Edmonton. -54F tonight and -58F tomorrow night in Edmonton without windchills. This is ridiculous cold. 

 

For reference:

Edmonton International Airport's all-time low: -48.3C (-55F), January 26, 1972

Edmonton Area's all-time low: -49.4C (-57F), January 19, 1886

[Snowstorms]

3 minutes ago, Volcanic Winter said:

Not to derail but Canada Goose is an overpriced fashion brand. They’re very warm but also obscenely expensive. Can get a better made down jacket that’s as warm or warmer from Feathered Friends for a fraction. I’d take Arcteryx over CG too, or Patagonia. Expensive still, but more technically competent than CG’s offerings. Just IMHO. We went into a CG boutique in Reykjavik this November and the price for their parkas were absolutely laughable, was like $2500 for the women’s warmer variant. 

Oh I completely agree. It's way overpriced like everything else is in Canada but that's a topic for another day lol. I have an Eddie Bauer jacket. Does me good every winter. It doesn't get cold in Toronto like it does in western Canada but we typically get cold nights here and there between 0 and -15F almost every winter. 

Maybe i'll consider investing in an Arcteryx jacket too. Might be useful if I decide to go hiking or snowmobiling. 

[Snowstorms]

4 minutes ago, donsutherland1 said:

For reference:

Edmonton International Airport's all-time low: -48.3C (-55F), January 26, 1972

Edmonton Area's all-time low: -49.4C (-57F), January 19, 1886

Wow. So this cold outbreak is historic then. I think what makes it even crazier is the 180 degree pattern flip from December. Let's see if we can break some records then. 

[SACRUS]

On 1/11/2024 at 9:10 AM, SACRUS said:

Cold breaching the upper plains

 

 

Frigid plains and NW down to the Rockies

[Brian5671]

18 minutes ago, Snowstorms said:

Wow. So this cold outbreak is historic then. I think what makes it even crazier is the 180 degree pattern flip from December. Let's see if we can break some records then. 

yeah Canada was devoid of any cold air in December

[SnowGoose69]

Not totally surprised there are signs now the relaxation period could be maybe 2-3 days longer than ensembles showed a few days back and that was probably logical by the MJO progression.  I think it may be 1/28/-1/29 before things really turn back on after it moderates 

[MJO812]

Euro has next weekends storm

 

 

[MJO812]

Nice snowstorm next weekend

[winterwx21]

7 minutes ago, MJO812 said:

Euro has next weekends storm

 

 

Looks as if next week is our big winter week. Very cold and a couple snow threats. Hopefully it will deliver (I think it will) since it appears that it's gonna warm up after that in late January. 

[Stormlover74]

2 minutes ago, winterwx21 said:

Looks as if next week is our big winter week. Very cold and a couple snow threats. Hopefully it will deliver (I think it will) since it appears that it's gonna warm up after that in late January. 

Either way cold with flakes flying. Hopefully we can get at least 1 decent event out of it.

[Roger Smith]

Not quite in the core of the cold but it's -22 C (-8F) and clear here at 10:45 PST. Bit of a north wind giving a -35 C wind chill. Currently -35 to -40 C all over Alberta, even colder in far north, and Watson Lake (s.e. Yukon) is -48 C. 

We also had record cold last winter but it came earlier in mid-Dec, and did a lot of damage to vineyards in Okanagan valley region (-30 C).

Canada's lowest reading ever was -63 C (-81 F) in early Feb 1947 at a location near Alaskan border, Snag, no longer an active weather station, I believe it was about same on Alaska side of border at Fort Yukon. We were reading in F deg back in 1947. I just looked up data, on Feb 3rd 1947 max temp was -57F and low -81F. Every day from Jan 27 to Feb 4 was below -40 but it warmed up to 5F on Feb 9. In same cold spell, Watson Lake's coldest reading was -74F on Jan 31, 1947 (it converts to -58.9 C). 

[mattinpa]

Feeling much better about next week than I did about the last wintry event. If NYC and Philly don’t break their drought, I would be surprised. 

[Stormlover74]

2 minutes ago, mattinpa said:

Feeling much better about next week than I did about the last wintry event. If NYC and Philly don’t break their drought, I would be surprised. 

If they can't get an inch next week they never will

[Allsnow]

2 minutes ago, Stormlover74 said:

If they can't get an inch next week they never will

This 

[Allsnow]

Now euro op says nyc gets close to their seasonal avg next week 

[jm1220]

11 minutes ago, Allsnow said:

Now euro op says nyc gets close to their seasonal avg next week 

We can definitely catch up in a hurry if the pieces can finally align. Hopefully the window opens up. In 2020-21 some had over 3 feet in 3 weeks and this strong Nino has no lack of storms obviously.

[Allsnow]

Just now, jm1220 said:

We can definitely catch up in a hurry if the pieces can finally align. Hopefully the window opens up. 

Defiantly. I always felt like we would get a good pna response in p3. We just need a favorable window with how active the stj has been this winter